Preparatory fiber opener



April 27, 1954 J. H. SENIOR ET AL PREPARATORY FIBER OPENER 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 26 1950 April 27, 1954 J. H. SENIOR ET AL2,676,361

PREPARATORY FIBER OPENER Filed May 26 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedApr. 27, 1954 BREPARATORY FIBER OPENER. John:- H; Senior, Germantown,and Harmon- Bi Rich], N orristown, Schwartz Inc., of- Pennsylvania Pa.,assigrnors. to Proctor 8;. Philadelphia, Pa'.,. a. corporation;

Application May'26, 1950;.SerialNo'. 164,501

v Claims. I

The present invention relates to new and usefulv improvements in fibretreating apparatus and more particularly to new andusef-ulimprovementsin apparatus for breaking up large clumps or masses of fibres and;thenfeeding them to further fibre-treating apparatussuch asv a cardingmachine.

Prior to the present invention fibres discharged from a breaker feedwere tangled and not sufiiciently opened with the" result that theyrequired extensive picking action before they were suitable for use.

With the foregoing inmind, the principal object of the presenti'nventionistoprovide'a novel initial fibre opening device whichcperatesto reduce themasses of fibres to smaller' increments before feeding themto other fibre treating apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novelpreparatory opener which, in ad.- dition to breaking up large masses orclump of fibres, also operates to pre-card the fibres before theyaredischarged' from theopener.

A still further object ofthe present invention is to provide novelapparatus of the type described having the features and characteristicsset forthwhich is entirely eihcient' and effective inoperation and-use.

These and other obj ect ofthe present invention and the variousfeaturesand details of" the construction and operation thereof arehereinafter fully set forth and. described with reference. to the"accompanying drawings; in which:

Fig; 1 is a schematiclongitudinal sectional view of the preparatoryopener made in accordance with the present-invention p 7 Fig; 2'i's anenlargedfragmenthbrysectional view ofa portion of the device; shown in'Fig. 1, showing'the'fibres being'acted-on by'the various rolls;

Fig; 3 is a side elevational view of a portion of the preparatoryopener, showing; the arrangement of the, drive forthe various; rollsthereof; and.

Fig; 4 isan enlarged scctionallview. taken. on. line 4 4, Fig. 2; v

Referring more particularly to. the drawings,

. reference numeral; I, designates. generally a. preparatory fibreopener. to Whichlarge masses or clumps of fibresare. fed. The.reparatory opener I operates to break down these large masses, or lu psof fibre and pineards. the, fibres to form a. mat. z of." substantial.thickness. in which; all; f the fibres; are. partially. aligned" in.preparation. to being. fed to some turther fibretreating. appara: tus,suchas a card (notshownh V v v The large masses or clumps offibres arefed" to the" preparatory opener I by a feed conveyor 3 which depositsthe-fibres on a generally horizontal apron conveyor 4. Theapron conveyordis intermittently fed by means of a crank armE-carried on a shaft 6'which pulls a pawl 7 by means of a connecting link 550 back and forthover a ratchet wheel 8 secured to the rear shaft 9 of the apron conveyor4-. As thep-awl T is pulledforwardit engages the rearwardly inclinedteethofthe ratchet wheel 8 and moves the apronconveyor forward, and asthe pawl 1 is forced backwardit is disengaged fromtheteethor'thera-tchet wheel and the apron conveyor does not move; Theapron' conveyor 4 is carried by sprocket'wheels 4w and 4b mounted on theshafts ii and 5) respectively: The sprocket 4bis loosely mounted onshaft 6 while the sprocket 4a isfixedlysecuredto therear-shaft 9 anddriven thereby;

The fibres are pickecr'fronr the apron conveyor4 by an upwardly inclinedpin conveyor [0 which consists of a seriesofhorizontar slats H", each ofwhich carries aplurality of forward-1y inclined pins I Z;The-apron'conveyor'i carriedby sprock ets mounted on-rel'atively spacedhorizontal upper and lower shafts t3 andi M; respectively; and iscontinuously'drivenpthereby;

Positioned adjacent the top of' the upper run of the pin conveyor vIllis a retractable?pinheater ['1 of the type shown and described U. S:Patent No; 2,372,543, issued March 27; 1945; The retract.- able pinbeater I "l is mounted ona shaft ll'a' and consists of a pluralityof'rows of retractable pins l8 which travel in an opposite direction tothe pins I2 of the pin conveyor Ill. The retractable pin beater H;operates. to remove excess fibres which are picked up by-th-e. pinconveyorso. thata. mat of substantially uniform thickness is: formed; onthe pin conveyor;

The fibres removed by the retractable pin beater 11' are firstvdepositedjupon. a. plurality of elongatedifingers [9 which arepositioned laterally adjacent, to the. upward, run of the pin conveyorl9. Thefingers l9 are rotatably carriedcnashaft 20 extendingtransversely across the preparatory opener; Also connected to. the,shaftlzfllis abounterweight 22' which normally. holds. the. fingersinthe forwarder upper positionshowninFig. Land thus presses, the fibresthereon. against. thepin conveyor 10. 7

As the mass offibres between the pin convey.- or L0 and thefingers L9builds upthefingers and he counterweight.- 22; are. oyerbalancecgby the;W i ht, of, the. fibre so. that said; fingers. rotate about theaxisqfithe. shaft. 20'. in;a,clockwise direction. This in turn actuatesin the downward and carries a plurality of direction a connecting link23 which is also secured to the shaft 26 by means of a crank arm 24. Thelower end of the connecting link 23 is secured to a bracket member whichcarries a cover plate 26 thereon and as the link 23 moves downward, thecover plate 26 is rotated about the axis of the ratchet wheel 3 andcovers the teeth thereon preventing engagement of the ratchet wheel 8 bythe pawl i. This controls the feed of the fibres to the pin conveyor it.When the fingers it are in their extreme downward position as indicatedin broken lines in Fig. l, the teeth of the ratchet wheel 3 arecompletely covered by the cover plate 2% thereby precluding any forwardmotion of the apron conveyor 4. Alternatively, when the fingers are intheir extreme forward or upper position shown in Fig. i, the ratchet isentirely uncovered allowing the maximum amount of feed of the apronconveyor and in any intermediate position of the fingers it the ratchetwheel 8 is partially covered by the cover plate 26 thereby controllingthe amount of forward feed of the apron conveyor d.

Positioned adjacent the upper end of the pin conveyor it is a workerroll 28 carried by a shaft in which extends transversely across thepreparatory opener. The worker roll 28 rotates in a counterclockwisedirection at a susbtantially slower peripheral speed than the pinconveyor it rearwardly inclined pins fail thereon. As shown in Fig. 4the rows of pins 3t on the worker roll 28 are staggered with respect tothe rows of pins E2 on the pin conveyor it and an are connecting theouter surfaces of the pin 30 substantially overlaps a similar areconnecting the outer edges of the pins ii? on the pin conveyor it. Thepins 30 on the worker roll 23 engage the fibres carried by the pinconveyor and tend to straighten them and partially align them.

Positioned adjacent the worker roll 28 and the pin conveyor ill is asecond retractable pin beater 3i which is carried on a shaft 32. Thissecond retractable pin beater 3i is similar to the aforementionedretractable pin beater I1 and op crates to remove the fibres from theworker roll 28 and pin conveyor iii and then deposit them on a pincylinder 33. The pin cylinder 33 is driven by a shaft 34 in a clockwisedirection and has a plurality of rows of forwardly inclined pins 35thereon.

Cooperable with the pin cylinder 33 is a second worker roll 31 carriedby a shaft 38 and driven in a counterclockwise direction. A plurality ofrows of rearwardly inclined pins 38 are secured to the worker roll 3'5.The worker roll 31 is positioned so that there is slight clearancebetween the pins 35 thereon and the pins 35 of the pin cylinder 33. Theperipheral speed of the worker roll 3? is substantially slower than thatof the pin cylinder 33, and as the fibres pass between the two rollsthey are combed so that fibres discharged therefrom are substantiallyaligned.

A blade beater 41 secured to a shaft 42 rotating in a counterclockwisedirection is positioned adjacent to the pin cylinder 33 and operates toremove the fibres therefrom. As the fibres are removed from the pincylinder 33 they are deposited on a discharge conveyor 43 which car riesthe fibres to some further fibre treating apparatus.

Extending transversely across the preparatory opener are a pair ofguides Ni and 45 which are used to direct the fibres either forward ontothe discharge conveyor 43 or backwards to a lower guide to from whichthe fibres will be picked up by the pin conveyor. The fibres directedbackwards by the guide d5 are those which have dropped off from the pinconveyor it.

The drive mechanism for the various rolls is shown in Fig. 3 of thedrawings. The driv means (not shown) is connected to shaft cl which inturn drives shaft 38 by some suitable means, for example, a V-belt fat.The first retractable pin beater ii is driven by a belt 5 con.- nectingshafts Ila and 4-8 as shown. The shaft 48 extends transversely of thepreparatory opener iii and has a pair of pulleys 52 and secured theretoat its opposite end. The pill 52 and 53 drive a second pair of pulleys55 respectively through suitable belt connections as shown.

The pulley 5a is secured to a shaft 5'? on which is mounted a pinion553. Cooperable with the pinion 58 is a gear 59 secured to the it whichdrives the pin conveyor it. The pin conveyor id is mounted at its lowerend on the Silo t it and in turn drives the shaft i l. The era a 5 isdriven from shaft i l by a pair or" sprockets ti and 62 carried byshafts i i and 8, respectively, and interconnected by a chain 63.

The upper shaft is of the pin conveyor has a pair of sprockets t5 and 66mounted th recn which in turn drive chains til and 5", respear tively.The one chain 6'! connects the shaft is with the idler wheel 59 and theshafts 25 and which carry the two worker rolls 28 and spectively. Theother chain 68 drives the shaft 3% which carries the pin cylinder 33.The blade beater M is driven from the shaft 32 by a belt it and pulleysH and H2 carried respectively on shafts t2 and 32.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the present inventionprovides a novel preparatory opener which in addition to breaking uplarge masses or clumps of fibres also operates to align the fibresbefore they are discharged the breaker. Furthermore the presentinvention provides a novel initial opening device which also gives apreliminary carding to the fibres.

While certain embodiments of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed her it is not intended to limit the invention to suchdisclosures, and changes and modifications be incorporated and embodiedtherein within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a preparatory opener comprising a feed conveyor on which largemasses and clumps of fibres are placed, an upwardly inclined pinconveyor adjacent one end of said feed conveyor to remove said fibretherefrom, a retractable pin beater to remove excess fibres from saidpin conveyor, a worker roll adjacent the upper end of said pin conveyorto align said fibres with the direction of travel of said pin conveyor,a second retractable pin beater at the opposite side of said worker fromsaid first retractable pin heater to remove said fibres from said pinconveyor and worker roll, and a pair of pin cylinders rotating inopposite directions with different peripheral speeds to receive thefibres from said second retractable pin beater and produce a preliminarycarding of the fibres discharged from said conveyor.

2. In a preparatory opener comprising a feed conveyor on which largemasses and clumps of fibres are placed, an upwardly inclined pinconveyor adjacent one end of said feed conveyor to remove said fibretherefrom, a retractable pin beater to remove excess fibres from; saidpin conveyor, a worker" rolli adjacent the upper" end at said pin.conveyor tov align said fibres with the direction of travel orjsaid' pinconveyor, a second retractable pin. beater at theopposite side of saidworker from. said? first: retractable pin beater to remove said fibresfrom said pin. conveyor and worker: roll', a pair of pin cylindersrotating. in opposite directions with different peripheral speeds toreceive the fibresv from said second retractable pin: beaterand.produce: a preliminary carding of the: fibres discharged from said: pinconveyor, a beater'ro'll toremove the fibres from said pin: cylinders;and a discharge conveyor on whichsaid; fibresv are deposited: to removethe fibres: from the opener" and feed them to. further fibre: processingapparatus.

3. In a preparatory opener comprising: a feed conveyor onwhich largemasses and clumps of fibres are placed;. mechanism: to drive said feedconveyor, an: upwardly inclined pin conveyor adjacent the: forward end.of said feed conveyor to: remove said. fibres therefrom, means to removeexcess fibres from said pin conveyor, a plurality of fingers laterallyspaced. from the pin conveyor andv cooperable; therewith to receive andcollect betweensaid fingers and pin conveyor the excess fibres removedfrom said. pin conveyor, said fingersoperable. to be: moved outward awayfrom the. pin conveyor by the collected fibres, means connecting saidfingers with said mechanism actuable by movement of said fingers tocontrol the motion: of. said feed conveyor, a worker r'oll adjacent theupper end of said pin conveyor to align said fibres with the directionof travel of said pin conveyor, a pair of pin cylinders rotating inopposite directions with different peripheral speeds to produce apreliminary carding of the fibres discharged from said pin conveyor, aheater roll to remove the fibres from-said pin cylinders, and. adischarge conveyor on which said fibres. are deposited to remove thefibres from the opener and feed them to further fibre processingapparatus.

4. In a preparatory opener comprising a feed conveyor on which largemasses and clumps of fibres are placed, mechanism; to drive said: feedconveyor, an upwardly inclined pin conveyor ad iacent the forward end ofsaidfeed conveyor to remove said fibres therefrom, means to removeexcess fibres from said pin conveyor, a plurality of fingers laterallyspaced from the pin conveyor and cooperable therewith to receive andcollect between said fingers and pin conveyor the excess fibres removedfrom said pin conveyor, said fingers operable to be moved outward awayfrom the pin conveyor by the collected fibres, means connecting saidfingers with said mechanism actuable by movement of said fingers tocontrol the motion of said feed conveyor, a worker roll adjacent theupper end of said pin conveyor to V align said fibres with the directionof travel of said pin conveyor, a retractable pin heater to remove saidfibres from said pin conveyor, a pair of pin cylinders to produce apreliminary carding of the fibres discharged'from said pin conveyor, abeater roll to remove the fibres from said pin cylinders, and adischarge conveyor on which said fibres are deposited to remove thefibres from the opener and feed them to further fibre processingapparatus.

5. In a preparatory opener comprising a feed conveyor on which largemasses and clumps of fibres are placed, drive mechanism to drive saidfeed conveyor, an upwardly inclined pin confibres are veyor adiacenttheforward end or saidiieed' c'onveyor" to, remove said fibres:therefrom, means. to remove excess. fibres fromsaid pin conveyor, aplurality of fingers laterally spaced from. the pin conveyor andcooperable therewith to receive and collect between said fingers: andpin conveyor the excess fibres removed from. said pin conveyor, a.weight" operable to bias said fingers toward the pirr conveyor arrangedto be overbalanced by apredetermined weightor the collected fibres to:cause: the fingers to: be actuated away from. the. pin: conveyor; means:connecting saida fingers' with said. drive mechanismv actuable by?movement of said: fingers to control; the. motion"- of; said feedrconveyors. a worker adjacent the upper end of. said. pin;conveyorto'alignsaid fibres: with thedirection of: travel of i said; pinconveyorr, a: pair of. pin cylinders to; produce a. preli'minarycarding; of the: fibres: discharged from said: pin conveyor, and; a.discharge conveyor on which said fibres; are deposited: to remove thefibres; from the opener and. feed them to: further fibre processingapparatus 6., In a preparatory opener comprising a. feed conveyor 011iwhich, large masses and clumps of fibres are placed, drive mechanism todrive said feed conveyor, anupwardlyinclinedr pinconveyor adjacent theforward end of said teed conveyor to; remove said fibres: therefrom,means to: remove excess fibres from said: pin: conveyor, a. plurality offingers laterally spaced. from the: pinconveyor and cooperable therewithto receive and collect between. said: fingers and: pin. conveyor theexcess fibres removed from: said pin. conveyor; a weight operable: tobias said. fingers toward the pin: conveyor arranged to beoverbalanced'by a predetermined weight or the: collected fibres to.cause the fingers be: actuated away from. the pin. conveyor; means;connecting. said fingers withv said drive mechanism actuable by movementof said fingers to control; the motion of said feed conveyor, a workerroll adjacent the upper end oi said pin. conveyor to: align said fibreswith the direction of travel or said. pin conveyor, 9, pair of pincylinders rotating: in opposite directions to produce apreliminarycarding: oi: the fibres discharged. from said; pin: conveyor, 2;beaterroll to remove the: fibres from said pin; cylinders, and adischarge; con-veyor on": which said. fibres: are deposited to removethe fibres from the opener and feed them to further fibre processingapparatus.

7. In a preparatory opener comprising a feed conveyor on which largemasses and clumps of placed, drive mechanism to drivev said feedconveyor, an upwardly inclined in conveyor adjacent the forward end ofsaid feed conveyor to remove said fibres therefrom, means to removeexcess fibres from said pin conveyor, a plurality of fingers laterallyspaced from the pin conveyor and cooperable therewith to receive andcollect between said fingers and pin conveyor the excess fibres removedfrom said pin conveyor, a weight operable to bias said fingers towardthe pin conveyor arranged to be over-' balanced by a predeterminedweight of the collected fibres to cause the fingers to be actuated awayfrom the pin conveyor, means connecting said fingers with said drivemechanism actuable by movement of said fingers to control the motion ofsaid feed conveyor, a worker roll adjacent the upper endof said pinconveyor to alighf said fibres with the. direction of travel of said pinconveyor, a retractable pin beater to remove said fibres from said pinconveyor, a pair of pin cylinders to roduce a preliminary carding of thefibres discharged from said pin conveyor, a beater roll to remove thefibres from said pin cylinders, and a discharge conveyor on which saidfibres are deposited to remove the fibres from the opener and feed themto further fibre processing apparatus.

8. In a preparatory opener comprising a feed conveyor on which largemasses and clumps of fibres are placed, ratchet mechanism tointermittently drive said feed conveyor, an upwardly inclined pinconveyor adjacent the forward end of said feed conveyor to remove saidfibres therefrom, a retractable pin beater to remove excess fibres fromsaid pin conveyor, a plurality of fingers laterally spaced from the pinconveyor and cooperable therewith to receive and collect between saidfingers and pin conveyor the excess fibres removed from said pinconveyor, said fingers operable to be moved outward away from the pinconveyor by the collected fibres, means connecting said fingers withsaid ratchet mechanism actua-ble by movement of said fingers to controlthe motion of said feed conveyor, a worker roll adjacent the upper endof said pin conveyor to align said fibres with the direction of travelof said pin conveyor, 2, second retractable pin beater to remove saidfibres from said pin conveyor, a pair of pin cylinders rotating inopposite directions to produce a preliminary carding of the fibresdischarged from said pin conveyor, a heater roll to remove the fibresfrom said pin cylinders, and a discharge conveyor on which said fibresare deposited to remove the fibres from the opener and feed them tofurther fibre processing apparatus.

9. In a preparatory opener comprising a feed conveyor on which largemasses and clumps of fibres are placed, ratchet mechanism tointermittently drive said feed conveyor, an upwardly inclined pinconveyor adjacent the forward end of said feed conveyor to remove saidfibres therefrom, a retractable pin beater to remove excess fibres fromsaid pin conveyor, a plurality of fingers laterally spaced from the pinconveyor and ccoperable therewith to receive and collect between saidfingers and pin conveyor the excess fibres removed from said pinconveyor, a weight operable to bias said fingers toward the pin conveyorarranged to be overbalanced by a predetermined weight of the collectedfibres to cause the fingers to be actuated away from the pin conveyor,means connecting said fingers with said ratchet mechanism actuable bymovement of said fingers to control the motion of said feed conveyor, aworker roll adjacent the upper end of said pin conveyor to align saidfibres with the direction of travel of said pin conveyor, a secondretractable pin beater to remove said fibres from said pin conveyor, apair of pin cylinders rotating in opposite directions to produce apreliminary carding of the fibres discharged from said pin conveyor, abeater roll to remove the fibres from said pin cylinders, and adischarge conveyor on which said fibres are deposited to remove thefibres from the opener and feed them to further fibre processingapparatus.

10. In a preparatory opener comprising a feed conveyor on which largemasses and clumps of fibres are placed, an upwardly inclined pinconveyor adjacent one end of said fee-d conveyor to remove said fibretherefrom, means adjacent said pin conveyor operable to remove excessfibres therefrom, a Worker roll adjacent said pin conveyor to align thefibres remaining thereon with the direction of travel of the pinconveyor, a beater adjacent said pin conveyor and worker roll operableto remove fibres from both said pin conveyor and worker roll, and a pairof pin cylinders rotating in opposite directions with differentperipheral speeds disposed to receive the fibres removed by said beaterand operable to produce a preliminary carding of said fibres.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 312,456 Gessner Feb. 17, 1385 528,389 Potter Oct. 30, 1-8941,610,791 Jolly Dec. 14, 1926 1,856,287 Nuttall et a1 May 3, 19322,353,541 Bokum et a1 July 11, 1944:

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 65,992 Germany Dec. 6, 1892 $9,213Germany Nov. 2, 1896

